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accepts settlement in annexation dispute |
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The two-year legal battle over Anderson County's Bethel community ended quietly Friday when local officials gave final approval to a compromise. The Clinton City Council voted 6-0, with one member abstaining, to accept an agreement approved by the Anderson County Commission last month. "It is a done deal," Clinton Mayor Wimp Shoopman said. "We're just happy it's over. It's been a long, tough battle with a lot of potential revenue swept under the bridge." The battle had raged over a 200-acre tract along state Highway 61 just east of Interstate 75. The city wanted to annex the land and allow the Rogers Group, a road-paving company, to set up a rock quarry and asphalt plant there. The county wanted to keep the land. County officials said they're eager to put the fight behind them. "It's dragged on for so long," County Commissioner Robert McKay said. "We definitely need to work together." Under the agreement: Annexation would be permitted, and disputes over urban growth boundaries would be settled. Clinton would agree to build a new fire station near the I-75 interchange with Highway 61. The city would give the county 12.5 percent of Clinton's local option sales tax from retail businesses in the annexed area. The county would drop any challenges and lawsuits over previous annexations along Highway 61. Clinton could annex land next to the city limits along the highway up to the Norris urban growth boundary if a majority of affected landowners asked for annexation. The city would impose strict guidelines on any quarry or asphalt plant operated by the Rogers Group. Members of each side initially balked at some aspects of the agreement, Shoopman said. "Nobody's happy with all the points in it," he said. "But what this (agreement) means is that we can just move on and get development going and generate some revenue." Bethel residents approved the annexation in a special referendum Nov. 28. The annexation will become final once the state certifies those results, officials said. "We didn't really have any legal standing to challenge it any longer after the referendum," said McKay, the county commissioner. "It just really took our fight away, and we had to salvage what we could. I think it's a good deal for the city and the county." Source: KnoxNews.com |
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